Tag Archives: blogfest

News & Contests

Halloween Scarefest Blog Hop

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UPDATE: THE LINKY WILL BE OPEN THROUGH HALLOWEEN! Add your stories now!

The day is here!

How to participate (and rules)
1. The theme is FEAR. Post a short scene (400 words or less) with a character who is afraid. Scared. Terrified. Petrified.

2. You may write a new scene on the topic, OR you may post a scene from your WIP or book. This includes completed and published works.

3. All scenes should be clean (i.e. no sex, limited violence and language).

4. Post your scene TODAY or any time this weekend, and add it to the Mr. Linky BELOW. Be sure to link your post back to the blogfest here (http://jordanmccollum.com/halloween-scarefest/) so your readers can read other entries, too.

5. Read, enjoy, and comment on other entries!

Want the badge? Copy this and paste it in the HTML of a blog post or your sidebar:

<a href="http://jordanmccollum.com/halloween-scarefest/" title="Halloween Scarefest. Photo by William Warby" style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z41/MamaBlogga/aiscarefestsmall1.png" width="300" alt="halloween scarefest badge" /></a>

Want it bigger or smaller? Change the number at width="300" to adjust the size.

The Linky!

Use your name (or your name@your blog’s name, or your blog’s name), and the link to your post (i.e. http://myblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-post.html) and NOT your blog (i.e. http://myblog.blogspot.com).

Read, comment and share!

Blogfest badge photo by William Warby

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Works

Façade of Fear

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It’s the Halloween Scarefest! Post a scene, 400 words of less, of a character who’s afraid (and see the blogfest post) to join in!

This scene is from Façade (you can read the award-winning first chapter here), about two-thirds of the way through the novel.

Setting the scene: Katya Mikhailova is the Soviet cultural attaché in Paris. After she was injured in a bombing, she briefly worked with the police and an American liaison for her own reasons—but she gave them a false name so they wouldn’t know about her position at the embassy. Now she’s tricked them into returning her to the embassy before they could find out her identity.

But the American isn’t letting her get away that easily.

Please note this is basically an unedited rough draft!

As soon as the door latched behind me, a deep sense of unease sent my stomach plummeting. The hair at the nape of my neck stood at attention. Something wasn’t right here. Everything looked the same as when I left, but there was something I couldn’t put my finger on that put me on my guard, a sharp edge to the air.

And then the hand clamped over my mouth.

My heart froze. I could almost see myself ready to lash out with elbows and hands and feet—but I forced myself to breathe through the panic. Thinking clearly was the only thing that could get me away from this attacker, not blind luck.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice was a shade above a whisper. Frank.

My heartbeat redoubled, but still I fought off the urge to fight back. He hadn’t hurt me yet, and he’d just said he wasn’t planning to. No reason to change that by trying to use force.

I shook my head to free my mouth, and Frank moved his hand a centimeter. I stared straight ahead, unwilling to turn and look at him. I spiked my tone with sarcasm. “What took you so long?”

“You’re going to have to explain yourself,” he said.

“Explain what? That I couldn’t trust you to keep me safe anymore?”

“No, not that, Miss Mikhailova.”

The chill of danger in the air finally leached into my veins. I looked to the mirror above the vanity. My lips were still stained red from the beet borshch, but the rest of my face was as pallid as death.

He’d found out the truth and he’d come here to kill me.

Read the rest of the Halloween Scarefest Entries!

Picture by Valentin Serov

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News & Contests

Halloween Blogfest Coming Up!

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If you’ve been in a store in the last six weeks, I’m sure you know Halloween is coming up. And to celebrate, I’m hosting a Halloween blogfest! Yep, here’s your chance to find an automatic topic, and get lots of visitors to your blog—and find great new blogs to read yourself! That’s right, it’s a HALLOWEEN SCAREFEST!

How to participate (and rules)
1. The theme is FEAR. Post a short scene (400 words or less) with a character who is afraid. Scared. Terrified. Petrified.

2. You may write a new scene on the topic, OR you may post a scene from your WIP or book. This includes completed and published works.

3. All scenes should be clean (i.e. no sex, limited violence and language).

4. Post your scene on Friday, October 28, 2011, and add it to the Mr. Linky on my post that day. Be sure to link your post back to the blogfest here (http://jordanmccollum.com/halloween-scarefest/) so your readers can read other entries, too.

5. Read, enjoy, and comment on other entries!

Want to sign up? Just leave a comment on this post if you’re planning to participate (not required, but appreciated!). The official sign up will be posted on here on October 28!

Want the badge? Copy this and paste it in the HTML of a blog post or your sidebar:

<a href="http://jordanmccollum.com/halloween-scarefest/" title="Halloween Scarefest. Photo by William Warby" style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z41/MamaBlogga/aiscarefestsmall1.png" width="300" alt="halloween scarefest badge" /></a>

Want it bigger or smaller? Change the number at width="300" to adjust the size.

Blogfest badge photo by William Warby

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

 
Works

Independence Day Blogfest!

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This entry to the blogfest is a bit late; I was traveling for the memorial service on the posting day and didn’t get the time to write like I’d hoped.

The prompt for a piece of flash fiction is: “It’s Independence Day and something unexpected happens . . .” So here we go!

You’d probably think dancing in the arms of Lord Edward Westing, Earl of Sussex (etc.) would be utterly thrilling. But you’d be wrong.

Bertie, as we all call him, is seventeen with bad teeth and worse acne. He’s a little obnoxious, but he’s a good dancer, he’s fun at parties, like tonight’s Carraresi Feast Day ball, and he’s family, if distantly.

He spins me into a dip and I glimpse the glass dance floor, and the orange sunset reflected in the sea below us. This year’s venue, an open-air gazebo over the gulf, is the best I can remember, and the evening’s just begun.

The music winds down and Bertie whips me into one more spin. “You’re getting rusty,” he says. “Hope you’re not planning to impress anyone.”

I look away. There’s someone I want to impress, but I doubt he’s here. I try to surreptitiously scan the crowd, but my eyes are drawn to the white wake cutting through the gold gulf not far away. Heading straight toward us, fast. My stomach plunges faster than it did when Bertie flipped me.

The boat speeds up. I realize my grip on Bertie’s hand is so tight he can’t even squeeze back—then the speed boat leaps out of the water onto the floating bridge, the only way on or off our little island. Two masked men clamber out of the boat, carrying assault rifles.

“Dove è la principessa?” one demands.

La principessa. The princess. Me.

They want me.

Rough and sketchy, but isn’t that always the way with flash fiction?

Photo by Alyson Hunt

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Technique

The randomest writing question I can think of

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Last year, I volunteered to trade manuscripts with a stranger. If I remember correctly, her manuscript was one of her first completed novels—and just a few short months later, Deanna Barnhart‘s running a very successful writing blog, with an awesome blogfest this month:

Today, we’re supposed to post a writing question, so here’s mine.

I’ve been studying writing craft since I was a teenager—which isn’t a super long time ago (I’ll just tell you, I’m 28), but still, I couldn’t seem to exactly remember how I learned to write. A couple months ago, it came to me: the Internet.

In the mid-nineties, there was this website on writing craft. It might have even been an ezine. It had some pretty good stuff. The site color scheme was red and black, and it might have had a grayish color background.

The only concrete writing advice I can remember from the site was to edit (what a concept!) and a story one student had written that involved postcards and balloons. It had a sleepy beginning, but the author of the article (who wasn’t the author of the story) suggested the story author add two sentences to the beginning of the story that would help highlight the poignancy of the postcards to the readers.

I think I came across the site again a few years ago, so it might still be out there. I also think it had some form of the word “write” in the name and URL.

My question: where can I find this website?

Last week was our first Writing Wednesday. Maybe one of these articles will help answer your question!

Even if you can’t help me find that website, be sure to come back next Wednesday for Writing Wednesday II, to share your favorite blog posts on writing!

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News & Contests

Happy Independence Day! (and odds and ends)

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Probably one of if not the most influential paragraphs ever to come from an American pen:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Thank you to all those who have ever sacrificed to protect our freedoms.

Poll results: Right now Voice and Clues in mysteries & nonmysteries are tied for the lead. However, an emergency has come up in my family. I’ll try to get to these as soon as possible, but for the next week or so, posting will probably be a bit spotty.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the Independence Day Flash Fiction Blogfest and Writing Wednesday (still open to new entries through Tuesday!)!

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News & Contests

Writing Wednesday!

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Welcome to the first-ever Writing Wednesday! Since so many of us are writers, I know we all must read lots of writing blogs. So let’s share some of the great things we learn about writing through a fun new linkup! It’s like a blogfest, only easier!Writing Wednesday

What are the rules?

  1. All articles must directly relate to writing. If you see something that makes you think of a writing principle, and you want to participate, I recommend you blog about your thoughts, and then submit your blog post.
  2. You should use a descriptive name so we all want to click on the article: Jordan McCollum wouldn’t be very enticing, but Doing Backstory Right would.
  3. Articles can come from your blog or someone else’s.
  4. If it’s your post, link back to Writer Wednesday in the post so your visitors can join in the fun! (You can use the badge below—the code includes a link!)
  5. You can submit up to three articles total.
  6. Posts can be old or new.
  7. You have until Tuesday, 5 July 2011 to submit.
  8. If you’d like to follow me, I certainly wouldn’t object! It’s not required, though.

Why should you participate?

  • We can all benefit from this!
  • Find new blogs and great writing advice—without sifting through the ENTIRE INTERNET.
  • Share the articles you’ve worked so hard on with my 200+ RSS subscribers.
  • It’s a great way to grow a blog!

How can I get a cool badge?
Copy the code below and paste it into a blog post or a gadget/widget in your sidebar. (It’s in HTML, so be sure you’re adding an HTML gadget, or select the Edit HTML/HTML tab above the text window on the edit post page.) UPDATED with fixed code!

<a href="http://jordanmccollum.com/tag/writing-wednesday/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z41/MamaBlogga/th_writingwed.png" border="0" alt="Writing Wednesday" ></a>

Where do we put our links?
Right here! Please remember to link directly to your post (i.e. ihaveablog.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-have-a-post.html and NOT ihaveablog.blogspot.com—this makes it easier to find the article!) and use a descriptive name (i.e. How to handle backstory and NOT Yippity Skippity Blog!).

Just fill in the boxes below to get started:

Thanks for participating!

Photo: writing with my new pen by Melanie Cook

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Works

Lovin the Language blogfest

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The winner of the Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook giveaway is . . . Lisa! Contact me with your shipping info to get your prize!

Also, keep on gathering up your favorite posts for Writing Wednesday tomorrow!

I’m on a sharing roll… you know, sort of, so why not share more?

Jolene Perry of Been Writing is hosting the Lovin the Language blogfest today, and we can share five lines or five passages from our WIPs. I’ve been back to editing a little over the weekend, so I’m sharing the latest iteration of my opening paragraph (this is NOT in Frank‘s POV, btw).

In war, there are two enemies: the ones you’re fighting against and the ones you’re fighting alongside. The enemies on your side are always trickier. Although the war was over, I was still defending multiple fronts, as a Soviet diplomat, living in Paris, a woman. Despite my vigilance, the most devastating attack would come from a quarter I’d never anticipated. I would remember everything except the blast.

(This is five lines in my WIP, though it might be more or less as you’re reading it.)

Still agonizing over them, and probably will forever.

What lines would you share from your writing?

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